Sunday, May 24, 2009

Pasta and Pie

I rarely cook big meals on Saturdays, but last night, I was in the mood to spend some time over the stove. So I made yet another tasty creation from Swell Vegan's Swell cookzine — Lentil Bolognese Over Whole Wheat Pasta:

Lentils stand in for meat in this bolognese sauce, making it a hearty and healthy alternative to traditional beefy pasta sauce. I had a pantry filled with unopened bags of lentils than a friend gave me last summer, and in trying to use them up, I've grown weary of my old lentil soup stand-by dinner. But this was a delicious and new way to use up some pantry items! Plus, the sauce contains red wine, and I'm a huge fan of that. Thanks Swell Vegan!

For dessert, I whipped up this Strawberry Pie:

I hand-picked the berries earlier in the day in a last ditch effort to stock up before berry season ends. And I'd been craving my Granny's veganized version of strawberry pie, a recipe that I'll certainly be including in my cookbook.

Unfortunately, I couldn't wait for the pie to set before digging in, so my first slice wasn't photo-worthy. I topped it with Soyatoo Whippable Soy Topping (the kind you whip yourself...I like that so much better than the kind in the spray can). I'm pretty sure I'll be having more of this for breakfast ... and maybe even for lunch.

21 comments:

Nummy pasta - lentils are not my best friend (tend to give me tummy aches) but they taste soooo nummy that I tend to accept the horrible tummy....and for your pasta I would be willing to suffer a little.

Hi Bianca, I just wanted you to know about our new non-profit group http://VegFund.Org. We help vegan activist fund food, literature and tables/booths. Please check us out and spread the word :) Thanks, JC

YUM! That pasta looks AWESOME! I really want to try it! And who doesn't love strawberry pie??? You'll be proud of me...Drew's Bday is tomorrow and I'm making him an all vegan meal! We're having Philly Cheeeeeeze Steak sammiches, steamed kale, and vegan carrot cake for his bday cake! Yay!

The pie is beautiful, and all the better with hand-picked strawberries. The lentil pasta looks awesome too, along with that eggplant lasagna from the previous post. Definitely time to make some Italian food again.

i too could not have waited to dig into that strawberry pie, Bianca – it looks absolutely glorious! i can’t wait to test it, too! mmmmmm! swell vegan’s Bolognese looks super scrumptious – glad i’m not the only one with lots of lentils in my pantry! it’s like we have a never ending supply! ahahahahahaha! we tried the soyatoo (the kinda ya whip) this weekend – dan’s parents had picked some up for us – it was super tasty, fo ‘sho!

My name is Bianca ...

About Me

I'm an 11-year vegan, 21-year vegetarian from the Mid-South, not too far from the muddy banks of the Mississippi River. And that means cornbread, butter beans, and collard greens.
These days, I live in Memphis. Check out my cookbook — Cookin' Crunk. It's filled with yummilicious veganized soul food and country classics.